The Enchanted Forest

We have visited The Enchanted Forest a number of times this season. It's a great place to take children, but our own are really too old for that kind of thing now, but they both work at The Enchanted Forest so we still have an excuse to visit. We started doing this a lot last year when our son Matthew was playing the Jester in Susan Vaslev's play, The Emperor's New Clothes. Even if you don't have little kids, I recommend visiting the park to see the play. This year they are doing The Princes and the Pea. Another reason to visit the park is to hear The Enchanted Forest's home-grown band, Possibly Irish. You can see both The Princess and the Pea and the band at various times each day this summer. Call the park for performance times at (503) 371-4242 and Visit The Enchanted Forest online.

Welcome Pope Francis

I like the new pope.  Francis is cool to say the least.  I was loving all the attention the media was giving to the Vatican after our beloved Holy Father Benedict XVI turned in his notice.  Where is the news coverage now?  I guess electing another Catholic to be head of the Catholic Church is not too exciting.  However, if you want to know what a great job our new pope is doing there are some good ways keep up with what's happening at the Vatican.  I check www.news.va on a regular basis to follow the pope's activities.  You can also subscribe to a news service called Zenit (The World Seen from Rome) to get regular updates from the Vatican and you can sign up for regular news updates.  I am finding one of the coolest ways to follow the pope is to quite literally "follow" him on Twitter.  Just go to your Twitter and search for Pope Francis or enter pontifex and then select your language.  The Holy Father has 2.2 million followers on Twitter at the moment and he has tweeted some pretty cool messages.  Viva il Papa!

Back to the 80s

For a minute there I thought I was caught in a time warp; but, after having a closer look I realize that I am still in 2013.  Somehow my friend and colleague, Anna, talked me into playing a small part in the school musical, "Back to the 80s - The Totally Awesome Musical" by Neil Gooding with original musical adaption by Scott Copeman.  But as they say, "There are no small parts" in a musical production and this one, to be sure, is no small musical.  We have over 50 people either on stage or behind the scenes.  Rehearsals are long and hard and my "small part" as the grown up Corey Palmer whose memories unfold on the stage consists of 1,400 words!  At first I was under the impression that I would be off to the side reading from the script as the narrator; but no, Anna insisted that I memorize my lines and get out in front.  I even have to sing "You Give Love a Bad Name!"  Well, it's going pretty well and I guess the purple shirt I'm wearing on stage looks pretty good, too.  It's been a long time since I was in a play and to be honest it feels pretty good to be back in the spotlight.  We have three more shows:  March 14, 15 and 16 at 7pm at Regis High School.   You don't want to miss it because I'm pretty sure that this will be my last run.  Well, I guess I shouldn't say never.

Eddie Caudel Comes Out

Black Headband with Red Rose

I might as well tell you now because you'll just find out anyway.  I crochet.  Yes, I've been crocheting in secret for years.  My Great Aunt Glady taught me how when I was a wee lad.  It started with a fascination at watching Aunt Glady knit and crochet when she'd come to visit us.  She was a machine.  She could knock out an entire outfit in one sitting. I asked her if she'd show me how.  She did and she told me I had good tension.  I guess a little encouragement was all it took because I was hooked (pun intended).  Over the years I never did much with it except keep my hands and fingers busy.  Sometimes I would get a skein of yarn and crochet it into half a scarf, only to unravel it and roll it all into a ball.  I even did a bit of knitting from time to time.  My friend Scotty and I used to knit while watching David Letterman.  We never made anything - we just knitted.  Well, lately I've felt like I should be more creative and start finishing projects; you know, actually make something more than just a patch.  I got some purple yarn and started making scarves and trying out some of the more complex stitches.  I thought maybe some of the Red Hat Ladies in the area would like something purple to accessorize with so I started really practicing the craft.  Some of my earlier pieces were pretty rough, but I kept hearing Aunt Glady telling me I had good tension.  I also found that it really helps to be able to read a pattern (some of which are pretty tricky).  Here's an example of a line from a crochet pattern:  4ch, 1tr in each of next 6ch, 3ch, ss in next ch.  After you learn all the abbreviations and stitches it makes pretty good sense.  My sister, Laura, gave me a book for my birthday on how to knit and crochet flowers.  Now I'm making some real pretty things.  I have discovered, thanks to Google, that I'm not the only guy who crochets.  Men are coming out all across the land, boldly wielding needles and hooks and producing some very fine articles.  If you'd like to see some of my product, just go to my little shop on Etsy and have a look around.  So now  you know.  I'm out - I crochet!

Algebra and C.S. Lewis

We recently received our son's first progress report from his Pre-Algebra class at Cheney High School and I am very pleased.  If he continues this way he will get an A in the class.  I never got an A in math anywhere, high school or college.  In fact, math has always given me a lot of anxiety.  I know I should just get on with my life, but so much of life is associated with math skills. I went for a job interview today and thank God they did not give me a math quiz.  I was always fascinated by my math teachers.  They were like wizards who could do magic before my eyes and I never learned their secrets.  I decided early in my educational pursuits that it was the Arts for me.  History, Literature, Language - that's where I belong.  I read a great biography entitled Jack:  C.S. Lewis and His Times by George Sayer, and I learned that Lewis also had found himself in difficulty when it came to maths.*  In the English system, university students who take up languages and literature do not have to take any papers in mathematics, but to get into oxford Lewis did have to sit an entrance exam which had a section on maths.  He failed the maths portion of the exam.  Luckily for Lewis the government had passed a law allowing veterans of the Great War to wave one area of the exam and so C.S. "Jack" Lewis was admitted. Lucky for us, too; for if he had been turned away from Oxford, we might never have had the joy of reading the Chronicles of Narnia and so many of his other great works.  Now, I'm no Lewis, but I can at least take heart in knowing that the low scores I earned in my math classes should not keep me from enjoying a happy and productive life.

* The American abbreviation for mathematics is math while the English use maths.  I lived in New Zealand for nine years and got used to hearing people say maths, but I found it to be a very difficult word to say..

My Mother is a Red Hat Lady

A couple years ago when we were in New Zealand, my son, Matthew, and his friend, Jamie, decided they wanted to go busking down by the Arts Centre. So I took them, Matthew was doing the living statue thing and Jamie brought along his guitar. There wasn't much going on for a while and the kids were getting little money in their hat and guitar case, but they were having a good time. There were two sweet little girls who played their violins near by and they seemed to be attracting most of the attention of passers by. Then all of a sudden there was a lot of activity on Worcester Boulevard. The timing couldn't have been better for the young buskers as a Red Hat Society convention had just let out for a break. You can't miss these Red Hat ladies when they have come together for a gathering. They wear red hats and dress in a lot of purple and foo-foo. The ladies were quite taken by the young buskers and proceeded to drop money into their receptacles. I talked to some of them. They were attending a nation-wide Red Hat Society convention in Christchurch. They had come from all over New Zealand and they were having a great time. This was before the earthquakes that damaged so much of downtown Christchurch and put the Arts Centre off limits. "My mother is a Red Hat Lady" I told them. "She lives near Spokane in Cheney, Washington." I also told them about the mystery novel my mother wrote, The Hat Pin Murders, which is a about some Red Hat ladies that have a rather adventurous time when a murder takes place within their group. I hope those ladies in New Zealand were able to order a copy of Mom's book. I thought it was kind of cool to be able to talk to some women in New Zealand about my mother who lives in America. The Red Hats are the largest social organization in the world. You can find out more about them by clicking here

Memories of Johnny Cash

It's no secret to those who know me that I am a big fan of the late, great Johnny Cash. Even when I was a little boy growing up in the Sacramento Valley I listened to my mothers Johnny Cash LPs and watched the Johnny Cash show every Sunday night. I will never forget the day I met the Man in Black after his show in Seattle at the 5th Avenue Theatre. We got to talk some. I got his autograph. He shook my hand. I have never been one for chasing stars and getting people's autographs, but I got Johnny Cash's and I have always cherished it. Like I said: I was a fan before everyone else decided that it was cool to listen to JC, before the movie. I just know what I like and I have always appreciated the uniqueness and original style of Johnny Cash.

I'm always listening for new sounds that are original, unique in style, but also revealing an influence that pays homage to the great stylists who have gone before. One day my friend Nick Collins asked me to check out The Unfaithful Ways on MySpace so I checked it out. What was I hearing? Those boys have to be from Tennessee. Turns out they're a local, home-grown band playing alt-country, bringing something new to the scene while honouring the old. They are Marlon Williams, Ben Woolley, Sebastian Warne and Simon Brouwer. When my birthday rolled around Nick said he was going to buy me a copy of their new EP introducing The Unfaithful Ways' "Four First Songs." How cool is that? So then Nick checks his mobile and tells me to follow him and we head over to the Music Department at University of Canterbury to meet Marlon. We talked. I got his autograph. He shook my hand.

I'll be watching Marlon and his mates from now on. I think we're all gonna hear a whole lot more from them and about them.